A Storm's a Coming
by littlegirlwarrior
Summary: Eris Storm, aka "Stormy", was Harry Potter's first best friend. She comes to Hogwarts from her school in the US to finish up her education while Harry, Ron, and Hermione return for their 8th year. However, Stormy's rebellious streak gets her into a lot of trouble and causes a lot of surprises.


**I sorta came up with this story idea out of nowhere and decided, what the heck, why not actually write it up while I'm on the plane. So, here we go**.

"Remind me why we're here again," Ron Weasley mumbled as he and his girlfriend Hermione Granger trailed behind their best friend Harry Potter past the houses of Privet Drive.

It had been a year since Harry had even been near his childhood home. He was eighteen now, Voldemort was gone forever, and Hogwarts was repaired and ready to reopen its doors for another school year. Harry walked down the familiar street with his hands shoved in his pockets. He didn't know why he was bothering to visit his place of misery. The Dursley's were long gone and the house had already been bought by another family, who was definitely clueless to the story that began within those four walls. However, there was something that was drawing Harry to that house, something magical.

"It's about time you got here, Harry," an American voice chirped, derailing Harry's train of thought.

The three friends whipped around to see a smirking teenage girl relaxing on a bench across the street from his old house. She had light brown hair with blonde streaks and one purple streak. Her hair was straight and reached the middle of her back. She was wearing ripped skinny jeans, white Chuck Taylor high-tops, and a cut-up white shirt over a black tank top. She also had a silver hoop in her left cartilage and a diamond stud on the right side of her nose.

"How do you know me?" Harry questioned as he walked over toward the bench.

The girl gave a fake pout at the boy's confusion and stood up from the bench. "Aw Harry, you don't remember me?" She put one hand on his shoulder and the other over her heart. "I'm offended."

Suddenly, Harry noticed a twinkle in the girl's bright pink eyes and he instantly connected the dots.

"Stormy?! No way!"

"Yes way!" the girl exclaimed. "Now come over here and give your Yankee friend a hug!"

The two teenagers proceeded to hug as they did the whole "You look great/So do you/It's been forever" thing.

"So I'm guessing you two know each other," Hermione added awkwardly as she and Ron observed the exchange.

"Oh guys, this is Stormy. She was my best friend back before, you know..." Harry explained, being careful not to mention Hogwarts.

"I thought your aunt and uncle didn't let you out of your cabinet. How did you two meet?" Ron asked.

"I used to come here every summer to visit my grandparents," Stormy replied. "My dad's from here so we would come for a few weeks to visit his family. I used to follow Harry around on errands and stuff cuz I had nothing else to do."

"Gee thanks," Harry muttered.

"Oh come on Harry. You know I'm just messing with you," Stormy teased as she ruffled his hair.

The two old pals laughed while Ron and Hermione stood on the side, not sure whether they should interrupt or not.

"Oh yeah. Stormy, meet Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. We met at, um, boarding school."

"And by boarding school you mean Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Stormy inquired.

The other three remained silent as their jaws dropped open.

"H-how?!" Harry stuttered.

Stormy looked around to make sure there weren't any neighbors watching. Then, she pulled a black wand with purple carvings out of one of the rips in her jeans. "Does this answer your question?"

"St-Stormy?! Y-you're a witch?!" Harry stammered.

"Yep. Found out a few months after our last trip when I turned eleven. Isn't that the same year you left for Hogwarts?"

"Oh so you're a year younger than we are?" Hermione guessed.

"Yep again. I just finished up my sixth year at Salem Witches' Institute."

"But what happened to you?" Harry questioned. "I haven't see you since the summer before my first year. Why didn't you ever come back?"

"My parents are muggles. My mom took the whole 'magical world' news pretty well. My dad, on the other hand, not so much. So ex-Dad relocated to the UK for good and made a new life and his family wanted nothing to do with us. Mom and I stayed in Boston, she remarried a wizard, and he got us through the muggleborn witch stuff."

"Stormy, I'm so sorry," Harry sympathized. "I had no idea."

Stormy shrugged it off. "C'est la vie. The past is behind me."

"But if you're not here for your relatives, why are you back here?" Harry inquired.

"I'm an exchange student at Hogwarts now."

"Since when do we have exchange students?" Ron asked.

"Since I wrote Headmistress McGonagall to convince her it would be a great opportunity to promote magical unity," Stormy responded.

"What about your school and friends in America?" Hermione questioned. "Won't you miss them?"

"Nah! Me and my classmates never clicked. I was sort of a rebel. Plus, Salem is so strict. They're probably relieved that I'm gone. In fact, the only reason Mom let me come was that I promise to stay out of too much trouble."

"Well Hogwarts isn't exactly a walk in the park," Ron commented. "They can be pretty strict, too."

Stormy raised an eyebrow. "I read the rulebook. Compared to Salem, Hogwarts is a cake walk."

Ron furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Muggle expression," Hermione clarified when she saw her boyfriend's face. "It means easy, light on rules."

"Exactly. At Salem, we had to wear ankle-length, long-sleeved, grey dresses with black clogs, white socks, no excessive jewelry, and hair tied back 24/7. Even worse, it's an all-girls school! I love my stepdad for helping me get a wizarding education, but Salem hasn't changed its rules since it was founded in the 17th century. It's all about tradition and avoiding causing another version of the Salem Witch trials. You can either follow the rules or break the rules. There's no in between." Stormy looked to the side and scratched the back of her neck as she muttered, "...which is why I was always getting in trouble."

The teenagers began to laugh.

"Man, you would get along great with my older brothers-I mean older brother, George," Ron replied, his tone saddening at the mention of his deceased brother. "Fred died in the war, but he and George were the terror twins at Hogwarts. They ended up opening their own joke shop when they left Hogwarts."

"Oh yeah! Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes! I've heard of it!" Stormy exclaimed. "I would so love to check it out sometime!"

"Well we can stop in there when we go shopping for school supplies tomorrow," Hermione proposed. "That is, if you would like to join us?"

"I'd love to," Stormy accepted.

"Well as much fun as it is discussing the existence of magic in the middle of a muggle neighborhood, we should probably continue our conversation elsewhere," Harry suggested as he led everybody toward the nearest apparition point. "Where are you staying until leaving for Hogwarts?"

Stormy chuckled bashfully and stared at her shoes as she walked. "I didn't exactly think that far in advance. I was just hoping I'd run into you here."

"I'd offer to let you crash with me, but Gin would probably kill me if she found out another girl was staying at my place," Harry admitted.

"Who's Gin?" Stormy asked.

"Ginny," Ron answered. "My little sister and Harry's...girlfriend." He cast a look at his friend.

Harry grinned sheepishly.

Stormy laughed. "Aw! Harry finally got himself a girlfriend! I'm so proud!" She playfully gave the bespectacled boy a few quick punches in the arm.

"Ow!" Harry whined as he rubbed his abused arm. "I still can't believe I didn't figure out you were a witch years ago. I should have realized it the second I saw those pink eyes of yours."

Stormy smiled innocently.

"Hey Harry, how about we stop by your place so I can make a quick floo call to Mum and ask if she's okay with Stormy staying with us?" Ron proposed.

"Good idea, Ron," Harry agreed. "And here we are. Stormy, you should probably grab onto me since you don't know where I live."

Stormy nodded in understanding. The four of them apparated to Grimmauld Place. Stormy was amazed to see how the house seemed to just build itself in between two other houses. Harry led his friends inside and Ron immediately headed for the fireplace to call his mother.

"Stormy, didn't you bring any bags or anything?" Harry questioned when he saw that his childhood friend didn't have any luggage with her.

"Oh right, I nearly forgot about those."

Stormy pulled three small items out of her pocket. She then whipped out her wand and cast a quick enlarging spell. The three items suddenly grew into a black trunk, a black guitar case covered in stickers, and a blue camouflage messenger bag with a skateboard fastened to the cover.

"I'm so glad I turned seventeen before I had to start lugging that stuff across the ocean," Stormy joked. "So what do I do about books and robes and all those things?"

"Hogwarts always manages to find students to give them their supply lists," assured Hermione. "They never failed to track down Harry."

Ron came back into the kitchen. "Okay so Mum was all good with you staying with us. You can room with Hermione and Ginny."

"Thank you so much Ron. Are you sure your mom's fine with letting a stranger stay in her house."

Ron waved his hand in dismissal. "As soon as I mentioned you were a witch and a friend of Harry's, she was convinced. She sorta sees Harry as another son."

"Aw that's so sweet of her," Stormy gushed.

"Well let's not keep her waiting then," Ron proclaimed. "Grab some floo powder, step in the fireplace, and ask to go to the Burrow."

Stormy put her bag's strap over her head across the right side of her body and her guitar strap across the opposite side, grabbed one of her trunk handles, and picked up some powder.

"The Burrow!" Stormy exclaimed before flinging down the floo powder.

Before she knew it, Stormy stumbled out of another fireplace into a cozy living room. She was followed by Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

"Ron?! Is that you?!" a friendly woman's voice called out. "I hope you all are hungry because I made enough food to feed an army.

Molly Weasley strode into the living room wiping her hands on her apron. "Oh dear, you must be Harry's friend. Welcome to the Burrow." Mrs. Weasley shook Stormy's free hand with a bright smile on her face.

"Thank you," Stormy replied. "And thank you for letting me stay in your home. I'm Stormy."

"Oh it's no problem at all, sweetheart," Mrs. Weasley dismissed before noticing Stormy's luggage. "Ronald! Did you make this poor girl carry all this stuff on her own?! I raised you better than that! Now you and Harry bring her bags upstairs and Hermione can let Ginny know that they'll be having another roommate this week."

"Yes ma'am," Ron mumbled as he proceeded to take Stormy's things.

Within a few seconds, the only people in the living room were Stormy and Mrs. Weasley.

"Would you like to help me set the table, dear?" the redheaded woman offered.

"Sure."

Mrs. Weasley led Stormy to the kitchen and showed her where the tableware was.

"So, Stormy? That's an interesting name," Mrs. Weasley noted as she checked on the food.

"Actually it's a nickname," Stormy explained as she set out the plates at every chair. "I'm probably gonna go by my real name once school starts. It'll make it easier on people."

"Oh, so what's your real name?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Eris. Eris Storm. A teacher called my behavior stormy when I was little and the name stuck."

Mrs. Weasley laughed and the Golden trio reentered the kitchen with a redheaded teenage girl.

Stormy stopped laughing and turned around. "Oh, you must be Ginny! I'm Stormy. It's nice to meet the girl who managed to capture Harry's heart."

"Um, thanks," Ginny replied as she tentatively shook the American girl's hand. "So, um, how do you two know each other?"

"Don't worry. Harry and I were summer friends back before we found out about our powers."

"Oh okay," Ginny responded, clearly relieved that she wasn't dealing with an ex-girlfriend.

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other before school starts," Stormy added. "Sorry to just pop in on you like this."

"Don't be silly, pumpkin," Mrs. Weasley insisted. "Any friend of Harry's is a friend of the Weasley's. Now, who's hungry?"

The group sat down for dinner and Stormy got to meet Mr. Weasley once he got home from work at the Ministry. After dinner, Stormy entertained everybody with stories of Harry from before he entered the wizarding world. Then, the next morning, everybody got their letters from Hogwarts with the list of supplies for seventh years. Most of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's class was returning to Hogwarts to finish their education. Those who weren't returning had either died in the war or gone so deep into hiding for being muggleborn that they were still terrified of coming back out. Harry and Ron had received an offer to skip their last year and go straight into the auror training program, but for several reasons (including curiosity about how a non-perilous school year would feel), they decided to go back to Hogwarts one last time. This was definitely going to be a new experience for all of them.

**Okay that was it. Review nicely please**.


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